I expected haters, I guess you're the first one. I have never seen a DPSer steal aggro form a Good tank in ANY pve fight. I dont care how amazing your rotation is, if the tank knows their business, threat will remain with the tank. There are Tanks that don't know the mechanics of a fight, who are still on the green side, who wont know what rotation to use to generate the best threat possible, and good chance you ended up with one of those tanks. I've never used Guard in FPs and Operations and I've never been asked to use it. As for pvp I've seen tank and healer combos that will clog up 5+ players at once. Granted those players may not know who to target and when to switch target, and their dps maybe on the low end with Tier 3 or less gear. I've seen DPSers use guard on healers, and healers keeping everyone alive, Same with Taunt 30% is still 30% whether used by a tank guarding the healer, or a dps not guarding but using taunt. You take Guard out of the equation and 30% from taunt is still plenty protection.

so there's no way for me to search to see if this suggestion has already been thrown out there, and I'm certainly not going to dig through 2500 posts, just to find out whether it has or hasn't. I've been playing this game off and on since launch, I've seen the good patches and the bad patches, I've seen all the classes get twisted into one Flavor of the month class, then nerfed, then it's the next FotM class's turn. This latest patch I read about how they EA/Bioware whoever is in charge lately, are aware that the Operative/scroundrel are Overpowered with their healing spec, but atm they will not be doing anything about it. which goes with the whole FotM twist I mentioned. I have done PvE, FPs Operations, Conquests, all manner of quests, and I have PvPd a TON on multiple classes. And from all that experience I've noticed something. There is one ability that I feel doesn't need to be in the game anymore, Guard. In PvE Guard isn't used, I mean I'm sure some noobs out there still use it, but Healers have enough threat reduction in their spec line, and tanks have plenty of threat gaining abilities. Some smart guy would say, "I guard the DPS so they don't take aggro away from me." Well in an operation you don't, because you don't want all that extra damage you'll take from guarding them. Taunt and AE Taunt is enough to hold aggro is most major boss fights in any PvE situation. The ONLY place you see guard being used A LOT is in PvP. The guys that are running this show are trying to come up with class balance fixes when all they need to do is get rid of Guard. and that will solve 80% of the issues. because now Healers don't get extra protection and their OP heals are somewhat justified. Haters that don't want to see Guard gone will say, "Guard is a double edged sword, yes it protects the person who is guarded but that dmg transfers to the person who's doing the guarding." but that 50% plus 30% from Taunt now that guarded player is 80% protected.. so if normally a DPSer hits for 10k, 80% of that is 2k... for 20s. Now with the level cap at 70 and the higher HP fights, that extra protection is about as OP as Healers are.. meanwhile the powers that be are still scratching their heads wondering how they can make the class thats OP less OP without nerfing them. But hey good luck with that, just remember World of Warcraft doesn't have Guard. And they realized they don't need it. So why don't you take another page out of their book, and take guard out.

You're right my bad Expertise was always there.. but before you could only obtain gear through packs/bags that you would get from pvping and in those packs would be the gear. What I meant was obtaining that gear became easier, and you could start saving up for pieces in earlier levels. The rest of my long winded text still holds truth to it. Cybertech Grenades are NOT needed in Warzones(pvp) anymore.

Do you know the history of Cybertech Grenades? Back in Beta phase, there were rumors that instead of grenades Cybertechs were going to get Teleport pads(sort of like summoning stones in WoW) Originally, Cybertech grenades, were engineer use only, and the effects were like Engineers in WoW, using a stick of dynamite. Not very effective, so you rarely saw their use in warzones. Then in 2.0 or 3.0 Bioware introduced Expertise, and acquiring these gear pieces were easier as you leveled up(Boost was also added in later to equalize the playing field.) A LOT of pvpers whined and complained because now they would ACTUALLY have to be good at playing their class rather then have gear that was superior to others. So many pvpers complained that Bioware made Cybertech Grenades more potent, and reusable(still Cybertech use only). Then again in later patches Cybertech Grenades were made available to all players and not Engineer specific. This was before they added in the debuff for 3 minutes. Those were hard times in pvp. I personally went through all the painful chain grenade knockdown moments while enemy players captured objectives with ease. I understand Bioware feels like they have to balance out the crafting professions with pve and pvp. But part of me feels like this is B.S. because what's the point or purpse of Artifice? Bioware has pretty much made that profession useless because of the Cartel Market. They only, recently, gave it meaning with the addition of crafted dyes; but still Cartel Market dyes are better. I have played all advance classes, and in my opinion NONE of the classes needs the use of Cybertech Grenades. All classes have a 4s stun, half the the classes have an AE stun of some sort, whether its a 2s stun or an 8s stun. There is PLENTY of CC in this game that having Cybertech Grenades in pvp is like a slap in the face. It's almost insulting. Those that use them clearly DO NOT know how to play their class properly, I have never used a Cybertech Grenade in pvp, and I refuse to use them, I'm better then that. I will not sink to the level of 'BAD' players who don't know how to play their class properly. I suggest the devs go back and take a look at Teleport pads again. You can make it like a Point A, B system where you place one pad down, then a second creating a link between the two. Of course these pads will have health and charges, and for Huttball like matches Ball carriers will not be able to use them. I haven't done much Operation running so I don't know if a Teleport pad(summoning stone) would be useful, but I figure instead of taking a speeder all the way back to a midway point and running back for a boss fight, a Cybertech Engineer could set up that 2 point pad system creating a quick link/jump back. *I know it's A LOT to read. I'm sorry, I just have very strong opinions in regards to the use of Cybertech Grenades in pvp. And I hope for the day when the devs take away the use of Cybertech grenades in warzones*

But it still holds the same functions. It still causes effected player targets to do 30% less dmg. it's the same function as it is in Tank spec except while in Soresu form(For juggs/guardians) it forces target(s) to attack you. it's the same for single taunts. What I'm talking about is doing away with that for DPS spec players who have access to Taunt but instead give them something else.. a damage reduction or a snare breaker. It's a big deal to give a dps player the ability to reduce all targets damage by 30% for 6s(AE Taunt) or the single taunt isn't much different. Reduces player's damage by 30% when attacking anyone other then you for 6s. So you have a warzone with 4 dps Juggernauts, if they communicate properly you can basically loops the AE taunt effectively so enemy players around you are constantly doing 30% less dmg. That to me is a tad unfair. My suggestion is to give Tank spec players, and ONLY tank spec players Taunt.

Again if this has been posted, I didn't care to scroll through PAGES AND PAGES of posts to find it. sorry. So Taunting.. what a pain in the butt this ability is in pvp. Players who aren't even Tank spec can use Taunt effectively. It's already hard enough to beat a healer, now we have to worry about beating a healer where Damage spec players can taunt and reduce damage against a healer by what.. 30%? 50%? So I noticed the Assassin's ability Discharge that has multiple effects depending on which Charge you have active. So why not do this with Taunt. Make it so only a player using a Tanking stance/charge can use Taunt effectively. For everyone else Taunt can have an alternate effect ability. Like a DPS assassin's Mass Mind Control, reduces damage by 30% for x amount of seconds. Limiting Taunt to Tank spec only players will probably increase the number of tank spec players in warzones who are teaming up with a healer. Or who just want to play a tank spec. Though I'm assuming this, I'm just making this suggestion to level the playing field. Giving Taunt to a tank, makes sense, giving taunt to a DPS, not so much.

First off let me apologize, if this suggestion has already been posted, I did not want to search through 1001 pages of posts. As the Title says, my suggestion is for the Operative/Scoundrel. I know this class is already viewed as Over Powered and in need of some nerfing. While I can agree with that feeling where it involves the healing line of this class, the Lethality/Ruffian damage spec is where the suggestion is needed. I've played all classes and advance classes in my years of playing SWTOR. I enjoy the DoT(Damage over Time) spec lines the most. I've noticed that most DoT's durations are between 9-18 seconds(depending on which advance class you are playing). I also say, "most" because there exist one DoT that is on a 24 second duration. Corrosive Grenade. does 'X' amount of damage over 24 seconds. At level 65 'X' is around 6679 damage, broken down that's about 278 damage a tick. There is no direct damage done initially. It can crit for 1k damage but for the most part it's 278 damage a second for 24 seconds. My suggestion is that this ability be put on a normal DoT duration of 18 seconds. This will increase it's damage to about 371 a tick. Not a huge increase but substantially better then 24s duration. My concern is that in pvp warzones Lethality spec is not doing enough dmg. Even with Corrosive Dart, and the extra damage from Toxic Blast(is somewhat if not just Pathetic). I recall a warzone where I just stood next to an enemy healer attacking them with everything I had, interrupting heals.. Everything I could, and their health bar barely moved. Some would 'Troll' me and say I suck. And some would say, "That's normal because healers are OP atm" At best at level 65 this spec line is a support damage/heal line. And even then you have to cringe because the damage isn't even support with those numbers. It's laughable. My suggestion is a simple, "Lets be fair" idea. Every other DoT spec line class has DoTs on a lower duration; why doesn't Corrosive Grenade?

My suggestion was made in hopes of renewing interests in Warzones at lvl 50. Queue times as it stands are too long. Wouldn't you rather spend 5 minutes in a queue? New players coming into this game will get slaughtered by the level 50s with higher tiered gear. Some of them will be die hard pvp'ers and keep queuing up. Whereas others wont be, and instead of queuing up for a warzone they will do Pve dailies, till they get bored and eventually cancel their subscription or uninstall the game. We, as a gaming community in SWTOR, should be trying to find ways to promote and/or encourage players to play warzones at level 50. Being crushed repeatedly for a week or more at lvl 50 just to get a set of gear... I did that back when the game came out. But if you expect me to do that again with 15-30 minute queue times. LOL thank you, but NO. And can you expect a new player/50 to want to do that too, just because it's what you had to do? This way or My suggestion, has it so players will be more active in pre-50 warzones to acquire commendations for their BM set that they can use upon hitting lvl 50. Then HOPEFULLY, with the skills they acquired in pre-50 warzones, and a set of decent pvp gear. They will queue up for warzones and it will be.... FUN. Because that's why we play games right? To have FUN? I mean I don't pay $15 a month to have my butt handed to me daily wearing recruit gear, by some WH or EWH geared player <~~~~ That's not my definition of FUN. NOT EVEN CLOSE. Maybe for the WH/EWH geared player it's fun. But the idea is to encourage new players and new level 50s to ENJOY PVP in this game.

Recruit gear is crap. Show me the video of the guy in recruit gear that defended a turret/station long enough for reinforcements to show. Otherwise Recruit gear is a joke. On my sniper, in recruit gear, I feel like I'm level 30 fighting a level 50. Level 50(with War hero gear+) hits me a couple of times and 3/4 of my health is gone. If the most I get to do with Recruit gear is run around delaying the inevitable.. lol I'd rather spend my time doing pve dailies then queue up for Warzones at lvl 50. Which btw is what most players do. Which is why queue times at lvl 50 are anywhere from 15-30 minutes. And most of the time the only players you see in the warzones. are the ones with BM and above gear. The gear you can buy with Warzone Comms from 10-49 is on par if not less then par with gear you can get just from doing missions. or queuing up for a Flashpoint. It's nothing special. A player may spend a few commendations on Implants or Earpieces, but for the most part commendations are capped. And it's not like the game is handing a player a set of BM gear, like they do with recruit gear. A player has to spend WZ comms whether it's at lvl 50 or sooner for the BM pieces, so the player has to grind out Warzones to get the comms for a set of gear that they wont be able to use till 50. So what's the difference? Oh I know what it is, You enjoy beating on the newly lvl 50s in warzones with recruit gear, because when you were newly 50, you got your butt handed to you repeatedly, so it's only fair that everyone else go through all that too. So Bioware, reward the player that spends countless hours in pre-50 warzones grinding out comms to get a set of gear for level 50 warzones, so they have don't have to accept the "inevitable," they will actually have a fighting chance against a player in higher tiered pvp gear. Why is that so wrong? F2P players, who can only do 3 warzones a week(unless they buy a week pass with CC), can have a goal to work towards... "I may only play 3 warzones a week, but after a couple of weeks I can buy my BM leg(or chest piece). So that by the time I hit 50, I may have a few pieces of BM gear so it's not a total slaughter when I play in the lvl 50 warzones." It's about encouraging players to want to play in lvl 50 Warzones. Recruit gear, cool I get it, queue up run a Warzone have my butt handed to me repeatedly, and say to myself, "Do I really want to do this over and over just so I can afford 1 piece of BM gear?" Bioware, you want to encourage a player to do more PvP in SWTOR, Recruit gear is NOT the answer. Letting a player work(in pre-50 warzones) towards a full set of BM gear... is.

No... it's not about being able to Use BM gear early. it's about having a set of BM gear when you hit 50. It's about using the excess commendations that everyone has, who does enough warzones, and spending them on BM gear, so by the time they reach level 50, they have a full set of gear waiting for them to use.

Learn to read! I jokingly said, LOL "Get rid of Expertise..."

Hello SWTOR players and readers: Monoth created a post called "Premades are ruining non-ranked warzones"http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=544543 And instead of reading through the 50+ pages of replies, I listened to a summary about it from a friend. I too have experienced the frustrations of lvl 50 PvP warzones. The transition from 49 to 50. Going from being almost god-like to being a pile of goo that a lot of players refer to as "BAD" no matter how you look at it; a solo player outfitted with Recruit gear, is like having a big target painted on you that says, "EASY KILL" to those that have grinded up the ladder and have Elite War Hero gear. Most of your warzone time is spent debating/arguing/venting in general chat because the pre-made or the other team is wiping their butts with you and your Recruit gear. This inevitably leads a frustrated, Recruit geared, player to either "RAGE QUIT" the game, or start a new alt vowing never to hit 50. Or you find them on the forums begging BW to put in a feature that allows a player to turn off XP. I'm not entirely opposed of the idea of turning off XP, but I do not feel like that's a solution. All that does is kill lvl 50 warzones. Seriously... a show of hands (/raise) How many players out there would use the XP off feature and never set foot into a lvl 50 warzone??(and it's for other reasons then just the beatings I get from running against pre-mades) /RAISE So my idea for a POSSIBLE solution. LOL "Get rid of Expertise..." No =P I was playing my lvl 35 sage and zoomed over to a PvP vendor and was looking at the list of lvl 50 gear... Battlemaster. 975 wz comms for the legs. I click on it, to buy it. The game informs me that I'm not high enough, in level, to buy this item. So what if.. Bioware... you remove that. You allow a player(lvl 10-49) to buy Battlemaster gear. It's level 50 so we wont be able to equip it. It's mods are 50+ so it's not like we can strip it and use the mods to "twink" out a pre-50 character. Keep Recruit gear for players who didn't participate in Warzones from level 10-49. But are lvl 50 wanting to PvP. they can buy Recruit gear and suffer through the pains of being "BAD" But for the players who enjoyed pre-50 warzones, and want to compete with the lvl 50 players, who have War Hero or Elite War Hero gear, having a set of Battlemaster gear would make a huge difference. Even with BM gear we still have grinding to do for War Hero, and eventually Elite War Hero.

I'm finding these responses amusing. Can anyone honestly say/admit that they are a great player(pvp) because they have mastered the skills and abilities of their class to such a degree, and regardless of gear. they can beat anyone? "We are only good or great players because of our gear." By the responses on this thread, a lot of you are okay with that statement. None of you are great players, so long as you allow Gear to dictate how good you can play in pvp. I read a thread posted by a player concerned about pvp in GW2... "But without pvp gear, what keeps me pvping in guild wars 2?..." http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/338836/page/1 I salute Volkon for their response(#12)..."Here's a crazy thought for the OP... how about actually winning PvP based on your skills as opposed to the gear you're wearing?.... Novel idea, eh?" Or reply #69 by osc8r(I wont quote their response it's too long, but if you are interested go to #69 and read it) I don't want Expertise or any other handicap skill in my pvp play because it takes away from knowing whether I'm a great player or not.

Apparently MMO means giving players a special PVP stat to make them gods. That's the definition of MMO.

If Expertise is removed, PvP in SWTOR is now about a player's skill at their chosen class. When going from 10-49 in pvp/warzones it's about the player's skill and not about putting in the 100+ hours it can take to grind out Commendations and Valor to get Expertise gear at 50. What is wrong with a pvp system that is based on how good a player is? Expertise is a Handicap stat. If a good player in Recruit gear goes up against a average player in WH gear, most cases that good player will lose. Not because they were outplayed, but because of Expertise. When I was a little kid, I rode a bicycle with training wheels. Then as I became better at riding I took those training wheels off and became a better cyclist. An average pvp player wont become better while still using "training wheels." So what does one do to become better, remove those "training wheels" and make mistakes. Through those mistakes a player will learn to be a better player, but not while the Handicap stat is still there A player is not a great player just because they are Valor rank 100. Achieving that rank means they have spent countless hours grinding their way through warzones. Win or lose you get valor, get enough valor you gain a rank, get enough ranks you cap at 100. That does not define a great player. A player loaded up with Expertise gear, does not define a great player. A great player is defined by their skills and actions in pvp. The players I face off against in pre-50 warzones have more skill then the players i see in lvl 50 warzones. Players will continue to enjoy the pre-50 warzones more, simply because there is no Expertise handicap. What does that say to you?